Before Chris Kluwe, the Vikings had a similarly, er, colorful punter by the name of Mitch Berger, whose claim to fame – aside from booming kickoffs when they still mattered in the NFL – was tucking a Snickers bar in one of his cleats to munch on during the game.
Berger has been overshadowed by the man who brought the phrase “beautifully unique sparkleponies” into the sports lexicon, but he’s grabbing his own headlines.
His target is former Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels, whom Berger played for in 2009.
“It felt like I was playing for an equipment manager,” Berger said in a recent interview with 750-The Game in Oregon. “He was like a little punk. He came in there and said that he wanted to hear a lot from me, he wanted to know what I thought about situations, and he wanted to take advantage of my veteran leadership. Then as soon as I would have a game that wasn’t up to his standards he wouldn’t talk or look at you.”
Sounds like someone needs a Snickers to cheer up. As Mike Florio points out about the interview, “Coaches can be jerks as long as they produce.”
But McDaniels didn’t produce, and is now an offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. (Which probably is a pretty sweet gig, if you think about it.)
Still, Berger takes him to task, saying McDaniels routinely “threw players under the bus,” and “I never played for a guy in my life who guys wanted to play for less or wanted to accomplish anything for less. He was just a guy you didn’t care about.”
Ouch. What do you care about, Mitch Berger?
Perhaps this line from his Wiki page says all you need to know about what Mr. Foot has been up to: “He appeared on Millionaire Matchmaker on March 12, 2013 and is now married to Bambi.”
Oh, fer cute! Here’s a picture of the blushing couple:
